Thermal comfort under transient seasonal conditions of a bioclimatic building in Greece

This paper presents the thermal comfort levels in a bioclimaticbuilding situated in the greater Athens area in Greece. The study was carried out under transient weather conditions (autumn) by the use of the PMV-PPD model during which the central heating and coolingsystem of the building was not operational. A surveywas also conducted regarding the thermal feeling of the occupants through questionnaires according to ASHRAE standard 55-2004 for the estimation of the actual mean vote (AMV) and actual percentage of dissatisfied(APD). Since under transient conditions the most reliable control can be either the Mean Vote or the Actual Percentage Dissatisfied (APD), it was found that the most valid method of PMV calculation is the revised method that calculates the PMVnew. Also the calculationof PMVe (the PMV corrected with the expectation factor) showed its incapability to predict the Mean Vote, under the circumstances of the study. The analysis of measurements showed that the determination of the comfort temperature, by solving the PMV expression in reverse order is not accurate. Its determination as a function of the adaptive control algorithm (ACA) appeareda more precise method.